Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 6 hours ago
Tucked away in Hertfordshire, the Barkway Carriage Wash is believed to be the earliest known example of a ‘modern-day car wash’.
Back in the coaching era, this type of wash had 2 purposes: it cleaned the wheels and nameplates of horse-drawn carriages while also soaking the wooden wheels to stop them from shrinking away from their metal rims.
Barkway was an important rest point on the old route connecting London to Cambridge and further north.
It was known to have been used into the 20th century until carriages were replaced with motor cars.
Tucked away in Hertfordshire, the Barkway Carriage Wash is believed to be the earliest known example of a ‘modern-day car wash’.
Back in the coaching era, this type of wash had 2 purposes: it cleaned the wheels and nameplates of horse-drawn carriages while also soaking the wooden wheels to stop them from shrinking away from their metal rims.
Barkway was an important rest point on the old route connecting London to Cambridge and further north.
It was known to have been used into the 20th century until carriages were replaced with motor cars.
